Monday

Sofyali 9: Keeping it Real in Asmalimescit

It’s hard not to feel pangs of nostalgia when walking through Beyoglu’s booming Asmalimescit neighborhood these days (and nights). The old corner butcher shop with its window display of lamb carcasses? Gone and replaced by a generic bar imaginatively named “The Corner.” The veteran grocery store where the colorful and meticulous arrangement of products was an accidental pop art masterpiece? Gone and replaced by an utterly forgettable Chinese restaurant. The laid-back café and bar run by a colorful character who always sat in a corner wearing a fedora? Kicked out by a rapacious landlord and replaced by a bar so faceless that it actually had to be named “Faces.” Continue…